And The Changed Fates
by Land of The Delta Blues
Summary: Inside every fantasy there is usually a shred of truth. However, the truth alone isn't always enough to set you free. Set during alternate versions of parts of "And The Happily Ever Afters" and "And The Final Curtain". Eviartycentric.
1. Chapter 1

"We both know this isn't real," Eve stated looking Moriarty in the eyes and almost immediately she thought she could see pain in the fictional's gaze.

For the past few weeks herself and the three LITs had been under an enchantment that according to Flynn was Moriarty's doing. The arrangement in itself was almost idyllic with the LITs in fantasy job positions and her as the sheriff, and a lover to the fictional. However, now that she'd come to the realization that it was all a cover for one of Prospero's plans she couldn't allow it to stay in place.

"Eve, this is a haven for you and your team." Moriarty tried, pleading with her.

"Is this really what you want? Here in Cicily, in paradise how can you know that what's going on, especially between us would be repeated in the real world." She knew she had him wrapped around her finger to the point that she could spin any sort of lie about their relationship in particular and he'd gladly follow it, and she kept trying to tell herself that was all she was doing. It was all to free her team, except deep down she knew it wasn't. The look in his eyes as he tried to convince her to take back her words was killing her and she felt it was only fair to comfort him. In an attempt to do so she closed the distance between them placing her hands on his shoulders.

"James, all this might not be real, but that doesn't mean that what happened between us here couldn't work out in the real world."

"Duchess, I think you're still living a fantasy." Moriarty softly said, pausing to stroke her cheek. "I suppose it's wrong to leave a beautiful bird caged though."

Before Eve had time to focus on why her attempts at comforting him had seemed to take the opposite turn Moriarty kissed her softly. This one was different than their earlier kisses and felt more mournful than passionate. Somewhere in the middle of it she sensed that the spell had been broken, but the fictional's mouth lingered a moment longer on hers as if he was trying to memorize her before he broke off and pushed her away almost causing her to fall off the stage of the theater.

"You have to find Mr. Carsen and the others and get to the park NOW!"

The shoving and the harsh tone his voice had taken contrasted so sharply with the tenderness of their last kiss that Eve paused momentarily in shock before turning and racing out of the theater.

Outside, the sky was a vicious looking shade of green peppered by occasional lighting flashes that looked like they belonged to the storm that could have easily been spawned by hell.

Across the street, Flynn stood with the other LITs he'd managed to round up.

"This is not good," Cassandra muttered nervously as Eve crossed the street to meet them.

Ezekiel on the other hand decided to take his usual jokerish tone in an attempt to hide his fear. "Hey Colonel Baird, did Moriarty run over your dog?"

Before Eve could respond, Flynn glared at Ezekiel. "The enchantment is broken and the town appears to be completely turning on us."

Steeling away her emotions about what had happened in the theater, Eve added "we need to get to the park as soon as possible and have Jenkins open up a door to the annex."

The next few minutes were chaos as the group raced to the park where Jenkins opened a door into a porta-potty.

Everybody else except Flynn had already rushed through the door ahead of Eve when something told her to look back. The sky had become even more threatening, but that wasn't what caught her eyes. Moriarty had apparently silently followed them and was standing on the children's playground just staring at them with the expression of a hanged man.

Almost as if by impulse, she turned back to Flynn for a second "there's something I forgot to do."

"Eve, we have to leave!" Flynn growled in response.

Instead of responding, Eve pushed him through the portal to safety.

xxx

Something about the way Eve had spoke told Moriarty that she genuinely believed there was a possibility they could be together in the real world. On the surface, it sounded beautiful to him.

Even in Cicily he'd seen bits and pieces of who she really was and he could imagine going to museums and parks with her along with having lazy days where they simply remained in bed tangled up in each other while it rained outside.

However, the truth was it could never be a reality. Much as his own book had ended with his death at the hands of Sherlock Holmes, the moment he allowed her to escape with the librarians he would be handing himself over to a punishment that Prospero chose and it would likely be long and brutal. It felt like a small price to pay for her safety though. Even though he'd never live to see it, he knew the librarians would stop Prospero and save the world again and she'd be the reason they were able to do so.

Of course she'd figure out eventually what he had done. She was too intelligent to not do so, and it would likely hurt her deeply. However, he hoped that by screaming at her and pushing her away in the theater as if he suddenly hated her, it would be enough to keep her from figuring it out before it was too late to do anything.

Still, he had to see her one last time before he met his own doom. She wasn't supposed to know he was watching her, but something made her turn around. The moment she made eye contact with him before pushing Mr. Carsen through the doorway he knew that she'd figured out exactly what he'd been trying to hide from her.

As if to confirm that she now knew the truth, instead of following Flynn Carsen to safety she raced across the grass towards him.

"It's not safe for you here anymore Eve," he stated, hoping it was enough to get her to turn around and leave.

"The moment I go through that doorway, you're going to be killed by Prospero aren't you?" she asked firmly instead of heeding his warning.

"Well death might not be the right word, but I'm sure it's the last time you'll see me in one piece." Moriarty responded trying to put on a false cheer that contrasted with the situation.

"And what happens if you go with me through the door?"

Although he shouldn't have been surprised by her question it took him by surprise a little. "You know I can't do that. Your Mister Carsen would never accept that."

"A good colonel never leaves her soldiers behind!" Eve retorted fiercely.

"I am not one of your soldiers Duchess. In fact, according to most of your team I'm the enemy." Moriarty responded.

Much to his surprise, instead of responding Eve turned around and seemed for all intents and purposes ready to walk away and through the portal to safety. That was until he felt a harsh tug at his hand and realized that she fully intended to take him with her even if it meant dragging him along against his will. It was exactly the thing he should have expected and if the situation weren't so dire he would have smiled about her persistence.

Instead, he used their weight difference as leverage and dug his heels into the ground in an attempt to remain in place. His safety simply wasn't worth her receiving fallout from her team over helping him.

Eve turned back to him, "look, there are two ways this will happen. You're going to come with me or I'm going to stay right here. Either way, I'm not leaving you behind."

This was enough to cause him to release his grip on the earth. It was bad enough that Prospero would kill him, but as horrible as it sounded outside the library no one would know he'd ever been alive or even bother to miss him. On the other hand, if Prospero saw Eve there with him she'd meet a horrible fate even before he met his. In Cicily she'd revealed that she had a sister, two brothers, living parents and numerous nieces and nephews. Without a doubt she would be missed and for good reason. The world still needed Eve Baird. If she was too stubborn to leave him behind, he had to accept that maybe his soul was worth saving.


	2. Chapter 2

The weather had reached an almost terrifying level of potential danger by the time Eve managed to convince Moriarty that he needed to come with her and as they raced towards the portal door, she could hear his ragged terrified breathing behind her. Even so, she never once let go of his hand out of her own fear that he would decide to change his mind and break away to meet the punishment she knew he thought he deserved.

The moment they slipped through to the other side of the portal she was met with Ezekiel Jones's wide eyed stare."Olonel-Cay aird-Bay, don't ook-lay ow-nay ut-bay ofessor-Pray oriarty-May is-way ight-ray ehind-bay ou-yay."

"Jones, speak proper English please," Eve found herself exasperated by his statement in apparent pig latin until Moriarty leaned close to her ear to whisper a translation.

"He's telling you I'm right behind you."

Although she had known he was behind her the whole time, and was even still firmly clutching his hand in her own, the way he said the words sent an involuntary shudder of pleasure through her body.

She must have made a strange expression to accompany her enjoyment, because almost immediately Flynn was practically on top of her, causing her to drop Moriarty's hand.

"Hey Eve, Eve look look at me!"

When she didn't focus fast enough, due to the unpreparedness, he seemed to assume that she was still under some sort of spell and tried something she hoped he would have given up on after the lack of response on her part the first time.

Flynn had the grand idea that true love's kiss was the one thing that could break her enchantment, and in a way he'd been right. However, even earlier when she had been under the spell she'd felt none of the correct familiarness when he'd kissed her. Instead, the first time she'd genuinely began to realize who she really was had been when she'd seen the fairy Ariel take down Moriarty with a spell. In that moment she'd flashed back to the times they'd fought in the real world, but a formerly background emotion had overshadowed her feelings for him and after she'd been forcefully separated from his lifeless body she'd knew she had to seek him out again to free herself.

Now however, Flynn was trying the tactic of assuming he was her true love's kiss and could break the "enchantment" she was under and it felt all wrong and maybe even a bit shameful especially with the actual true love's kiss standing a few feet away.

She did have some form of feelings for Flynn, maybe even ones that could qualify as romantic fondness, but it wasn't a two way street. She believed it was true that Flynn at least fancied the idea of being in love with her, but he wasn't far enough to actually have executed the concept. It wasn't that he was genuinely trying to be mean, but she felt like his mind had tried to turn love into some kind of librarian puzzle that needed to be solved by the most complex methods possible instead of random chemicals firing in a way that was entirely unpredictable.

Violently she jerked her body away from him, hoping she didn't hurt him too badly in doing so. "Stop!"

"Eve, don't you remember who you are?"

It almost felt cold hearted telling Flynn the truth. "I know exactly who I am Flynn, but also know things have to be different now."

Jake interrupted the awkward moment and pointed at Moriarty. "What part of things have to be different explains why you bought him into the annex?"

Eve found herself going out on a limb trying to explain her reasoning behind bringing Moriarty back with her. Instead of being his usual endearing asshole self, the fictional had gone completely silent as if he was still maybe a little scared, and she couldn't very well tell her team that she'd followed her emotions when bringing him with her. Eve Baird was the authoritarian mother figure of the team. In a time of crisis she had to appear as the invincible backbone, not some lovesick little girl.

"We need a way to find out what exactly Prospero is up to, and he needs a way to earn his freedom." It wasn't as much a lie as it was a partial untruth. The LITs really would benefit from any extra intel on what Prospero was up to, and Moriarty had stated in the past that he wanted to be free.

"Yeah, but what if once we help the "esteemed" professor free himself from Prospero he turns around and...I don't know, uses his new found freedom to destroy us all," Ezekiel paused before adding, "we're all in agreement that's what's gonna happen, right?"

xxx

The way things had turned out was far from surprising to him. The librarians refused to trust him. It almost felt easy to turn around and go back through the annex door and escape to whatever torture Prospero had for him, but that was what runners did. Builders fought even when the odds were against them, and he couldn't shame Eve by turning out to be exactly what he'd told her he wasn't.

Instead, he broke his silence, "I understand why you find it hard to trust my motives. However, I'm sure you trust the duchess, and she seems to believe that I have some good in me."

"Ah, but how do we know that Eve isn't still under some enchantment of your doing?"

Flynn Carsen seemed stuck on the notion of Eve being under another enchantment and this irritated him. He could admit now that his creation of Cicily had been a bit selfish, especially since he'd wanted so desperately to have Eve see him as something other than the enemy. However, the other purpose of it had been to keep her out of the danger fighting Prospero would put her in. The thought of willfully putting Eve in danger only to keep himself in one piece felt too cruel and evil even for the person he was supposed to be.

"If I'd put Colonel Baird under some sort of enchantment to help Prospero, it would be rather ignorant of me to follow her into the annex," he responded, trying to keep annoyance out of his tone as he stepped forward to stand next to Eve. It seemed like reacting in anger would be counterproductive to genuinely earning the LITs trust as he'd have to do if he wanted to remain in her life permanently.

"See, I'm not under an enchantment," Eve added with an almost scolding tone in her voice. There was something about the way she looked that made him almost want to kiss her in that moment, but he knew the timing was exactly wrong for that and any further thoughts of such actions were diverted by Jenkins chiming in.

"That's technically not proof of anything Colonel Baird. However, the amount of time it would take to test for enchantments would clearly be wasted." The old caretaker scolded back at Eve.

"Okay, but what do we do about the elephant in the room?" Jake asked, pointedly glaring at him as if he thought something about this would be intimidating.

The moment he opened his mouth planning to bite back with some scathing remark, Moriarty felt something click around his wrist. He'd forgotten that Eve still had the handcuffs from the Sheriff Baird persona at her waist. For the briefest of seconds he was in panic mode. Handcuffs were an unpleasant reminder of the past he was trying to escape from. Logic took hold after a mere second of panic though, and he immediately realized that instead of cuffing him to a stationary object Eve had placed the other cuff around her own wrist.


	3. Chapter 3

Eve's quick fix had turned out to be very distracting to say the least. She wasn't used to having to move in tandem with another person. So in the roughly fifteen minutes since she'd handcuffed herself to Moriarty they'd already bumped into each other several times. To add to the unintentional entanglement, there was something intoxicating about the way he smelled. It was a strange combination of ink on old pages, Earl Grey tea and something more modern that she couldn't quite place. However it had become impossible for her to forget that they weren't alone as Cassandra, the only LIT who didn't seem angry with Eve's sudden choice, had taken it upon herself to become a sort of comical hyperactive watchdog and direct the pair out of trouble.

"There's a huge table right in front of you!"

Eve slowed down just enough to keep Moriarty from running into her. "Cassandra, we're handcuffed together, not blind!"

"Sorry!" Cassandra apologized excitedly, and Eve found she couldn't truly be angry.

Finally, after a few more minutes of tricky maneuvering, accompanied by Cassandra's continued excitable coaching, Eve found herself seated on one of the tables with Moriarty slightly in front of her in a chair.

In what felt like the maneuver of a parent trying to keep his teenage daughter from making out with her boyfriend, Flynn had positioned himself only a few feet away from them in a rolling chair that he kept "covertly" moving closer. As soon as he was close enough that he practically had them both trapped in place he rested his head in his hands and looked Moriarty straight in the eyes. "Now would probably be a good time to tell us what you know about Prospero's plan."

If Flynn thought he looked even remotely intimidating, he was completely mistaken. There was something almost childish about the way he looked as he tried to lean in towards the other man.

From the way he caused Eve's hand to involuntarily jerk as he briefly tried to pull away from Flynn, it was obvious Moriarty wanted to escape. However, instead he looked the other man straight in the eyes and spoke. "I'm afraid I lost Prospero's trust too soon to discover his full plan, but he repeatedly bought up wanting to take the world back to a better time."

Flynn continued to glare at him for a moment before rolling away in his chair and sitting in the middle of the room contemplatively. "I don't know if that information is helpful or not." After a pause, he turned to Eve. "Eve, what's your idea of a better time?"

She had a response prepared, but she was sure it was neither the answer to what Prospero was trying to do or what most of the occupants of the annex wanted to hear so she was almost relieved when Cassandra butted in excitedly.

"Coffee!"

Flynn turned to look at the cheerful redhead with an even more confused look on his face. "Somehow I don't think he wants to turn the planet into a giant coffee shop. That's not really an infernal plan...unless of course he really likes Starbucks but finds it far too expensive."

"No Flynn, we need coffee. From that twenty-four hour place in Las Vegas that puts the sprinkles that look like fireworks in them...to help us think better."

"Ms. Cillian, I don't think the appearance of the sprinkles has any effect on how well the coffee will work." Jenkins gently scolded, even though he immediately began to fire up the door and had a genuine smile on his face.

It was true, there was absolutely nothing special about the coffee at this particular shop other than the sprinkles. It was a small place just off the strip that screamed of all the fake glamour that was Vegas while serving beverages that tasted like they could have came from any one of a million places across the world. However, Cassandra loved the way the glitter sprinkled across the top of the whipped cream on the drinks and after accidentally discovering it while playing with the back door she now bought the whole team drinks at least once a week.

A quick glance to her left showed Eve that even Moriarty, who had no knowledge of Cassandra's beloved ritual, seemed relaxed by the red haired librarian's infectiously happy state.

For a moment everything seemed almost normal until Cassandra threw open the annex door and stepped out for less than a minute before returning wide eyed. "Either the Strip has gotten a very strange makeover or I know Prospero's plan!"

xxx

From the moment he'd laid eyes on Eve he'd known that he wanted to become someone better if only so that he could be deserving of following her to the ends of the earth. However, being literally handcuffed to her wasn't exactly what he had in mind. Together, their movements were messy and disjointed and it felt like it would have been much easier for Eve to simply uncuff him. However, instead they'd kept trying to sync their movements and by the time they both sat down he felt it had been regulated to an easy almost comfortable chaos. That was until Cassandra raced back into the annex wide eyed and Eve instinctively shot up out of her seat wanting to be by Cassandra's side and forgetting she wasn't alone in her movements.

For a moment pain radiated through his arm and he gritted his teeth as Eve fell back against the table with her own pained noise. Feeling guilty about not standing up fast enough to keep her from falling, Moriarty pushed aside his own discomfort in favor of distracting Eve from hers.

Gently he took her hand in his. "Shall we try that maneuver again Duchess?"

By the time they made their way over to Cassandra, she was already surrounded by the rest of the team, but holding hands had made it easier to move in sync with each other.

The second they were close enough to be part of the action Eve went almost comically into team mom mode. "What happened Cassandra?"

"It makes sense that because Prospero was created in Elizabethan England, that would be his better time." Cassandra was speaking so fast from excitement that it was almost hard to keep up with her, but Eve was trying her best to do so.

"Okay, go on." Eve prompted.

"Apparently Las Vegas is now Elizabethan London!" Cassandra finished excitedly.

"So is Prospero really against sin and vice? Otherwise there are much more effective places to turn into Elizabethan London. Like I don't know, actual London?!" Ezekiel retorted, turning to glare at Moriarty as if he assumed the fictional somehow had the answer to everything.

"Prospero said only that the entire world would know his greatness." Moriarty responded, trying to mentally answer the exact same questions everyone else was. There was nothing that Prospero could have possibly wanted out of Las Vegas. The glitzy neon glow of the Strip was superficial and cheap. There was nothing to be gained by reducing America's city of sin and vice to an Elizabethan version.

He was so caught up in his own musings that he had no idea what Eve was doing or saying next to him and only tuned back into the "real" world in time to hear her say "Jenkins, fire up the door to Belfast, Northern Ireland."

It took a minute for him to understand what point she was trying to make, but Jenkins was immediately on her wavelength and less than a minute later the caretaker opened up the door to the new city.

The layout of the buildings outside had subtle differences that hinted they were no longer in Las Vegas, but the style of them was identical. In his mind it would have been safe to say that Prospero's plan had been to turn the entire world into Elizabethan London, but the librarians apparently wanted slightly more proof.

After the door had been opened to Cape Town, South Africa and Vancouver, British Columbia, Flynn Carsen confirmed what he already knew. "Prospero turned the entire planet into Elizabethan London."

"But what could he possibly achieve by doing that to the entire planet?!" Ezekiel Jones huffed before turning to glare at Moriarty as if it was somehow his fault for not trying harder to stop a plan that he'd already wanted very little to do with.


	4. Chapter 4

In hindsight, being that they'd been handcuffed together for less than an hour, the action felt silly. For a short time it had served to keep her team feeling safe from the danger Moriarty's presence was believed to cause. However, knowing that she was the real reason the fictional had agreed to help out the librarians made Eve feel ashamed. Explaining the truth would have been a far more useful solution long term. Flynn had been so convinced that she was still under an enchantment though that at the time she doubted it would have worked.

As soon as the full extent of Prospero's plan had been discovered it made more sense to remove the handcuffs. Moriarty was suddenly a valued asset to the team and she had her own preparations to make that required a full range of body movements. Still, she wanted him as close as possible and it made sense that when it became required to don Elizabethan clothing they were alone together in her office changing.

However, what was supposed to be two separate entities acting in the same space had immediately turned into something different. She'd helped him out of his suit jacket and somehow this had led to them undressing each other. There was something incredibly intimate and comforting about the simple act of touching his bare skin. His body was warm and even though he was still very much a fictional, he was alive and his body felt strong and solid beneath her hands. In another time or situation their actions could have very easily turned into something more carnal, but both knew it wasn't the right moment.

Instead, undressing turned into redressing each other in different clothes. Instead of choosing an outfit that was normal for a woman of the Elizabethan era, Eve had chosen the clothes of a male peasant. A dress afforded her only a fraction of the mobility she wanted and there was no way she felt she'd look even partially decent in the clothes of a male nobleman. Moriarty however had chosen to wear a nobleman's clothes, and not surprisingly he wore them as if he'd been born to do so.

Just as Eve was finishing with the last button on Moriarty's vest Flynn opened the door and popped his head in. "Am I interrupting something?" When neither person responded he gave them a strange look and added "I feel like I'm interrupting something...anyway, Jenkins wanted me to tell you, meaning Eve mostly, that he's about to fire up the door."

When Flynn lingered in the doorway, watching them for a second after he'd finished his message Eve turned to him confused. "Need something else Flynn?"

"No, I just thought you know, handcuffs again. For him...and you. Not in a weird way of course. Just as a safety measure." Flynn stopped speaking ,when the pair continued to just stare at him blankly, and retreated back into the main area of the annex.

As soon as he'd left, Moriarty gave her one of the filthiest smiles she'd ever seen. "Are you sure you don't want to cuff me again Duchess? Aren't you afraid I might wander off?"

His tone of voice made Eve's face almost flush again, but she tried to hide how she felt, instead choosing to try to give herself the upper hand by leaning close to him and whispering "we stop Prospero first, and then MAYBE you can see the handcuffs again," before walking out to face her team with the fictional following close behind.

xxx

After the further extent of Prospero's plan had been revealed Moriarty had suddenly become useful to the LITs. However, it didn't take much for him to realize that to them his importance was a temporary means to an end and not a sign that they wanted him there. Still, every time he found himself wanting to revert to his old ways that had become so natural he instead thought of Eve and how it would all reflect badly on her as well.

That was why instead of immediately taking to the streets to find Prospero on his own he was sitting in an Elizabethan pub watching as Flynn Carsen shoveled something that barely passed for food into his mouth while he outlined the "perfect" plan.

"First, Cassandra will disguise as a beggar woman and intercept a mail delivery cart. Then, while she's distracting the driver, Ezekiel checks the cart to see if Prospero has any mail marked to him. Once we have the address from the mail I'll go and knock on his door. When he comes outside to see who knocked Jake is going to sneak up behind him and hit him over the head hopefully knocking him unconscious. Then we take him back inside, search him, find the staff of power and figure out how to banish him. Any questions?"

Moriarty heard himself let out a long annoyed breath.

In response, Jake Stone immediately turned to stare at him. "If you think you have something better, by all means let us in on it."

Instead of responding, Moriarty got up from his seat and walked away from the group towards the pub owner. The man was about the same height and build as him, but his face bore an obvious Glasgow smile that made Moriarty think of henchmen and gang fights. However, Moriarty wasn't looking to recruit a henchman. Instead, he thought the man would be useful for a far more practical measure. As soon as the man had written down the piece of information he wanted, he returned to the table and slid the paper towards Flynn.

"220 Dorset Street...what's so special about 220 Dorset Street?" the other man asked sliding the paper back towards him.

"I believe you'll find Prospero at the address the owner of this questionable establishment has supplied me with."

"Ahh, but what if the address is wrong? " Flynn responded.

"I assure you it isn't wrong." Moriarty growled in response, becoming annoyed.

"But what if it is?" instead of speaking directly to Moriarty, Flynn turned towards the others "as a criminal wouldn't it be in his best interest to deceive us so that he can find Prospero and the staff of power himself?"

"Former criminal." Moriarty retorted, leaning across the table towards Flynn, wanting to give into his impulses to slap or punch the other man for refusing to believe him.

In response Flynn stood up and leaned across the table from his side until the two men were mere inches apart.

However before the fight could go further, Moriarty was pulled backwards by a hard tug at the back of his vest as Cassandra grabbed Flynn at the same time.

Once both men were seated again Eve let go of his vest and moved to where she was in view of both of them. "Either you two work together or the handcuffs are going to make an appearance again and it won't be a pleasant one!"


	5. Chapter 5

"Colonel Baird, I hate to break it to you but our so called new friend is missing." Ezekiel stated and Eve immediately realized she hadn't seen Moriarty since they'd all disembarked from a disastrous carriage ride a few blocks from what was believed to be Prospero's house.

For a moment she found herself wondering if he'd changed his mind about trying to be good and decided to warn the man who had summoned him about the plot. As much as it pained her, she decided that if he'd done so she'd find a way to banish or destroy him herself. With that thought in mind, she knew she had to be the one to find him.

Finding the missing fictional proved to be an easy task and Eve located her quarry around the side of the building just out of eye and earshot of the librarians. Moriarty must have been so caught up in whatever he was thinking about that for a moment he didn't notice the approaching guardian and she had a chance to watch him unguarded. Rather than appearing as the confident, almost cocky man she had seen for most of the time she had known him, in front of her was someone who looked unsure of himself much like he had back in Cicily. However, something about this time told her that he didn't want anyone to see him this way.

Softly, Eve cleared her throat to get his attention. "You're not planning on reverting back to your old ways are you Villain?" The comment was meant as a joke, but something in his eyes told her he'd been hurt by it.

However, Moriarty quickly hid his emotions and offered a fake smile in her direction instead. "I suppose your team hasn't quite warmed up to me yet."

Eve paused for a moment before speaking. "Is this about Flynn accusing you of being Jack the Ripper? If it makes you feel any better, Flynn also tried to convince Jenkins to build a magical barrier to keep talking snowmen out of the annex after seeing Frozen for the first time."

This time the smile Moriarty gave her felt more genuine. "I fear that I am unaware of the connection between talking snowmen and a movie Mr. Carsen watched, but that does sound like something he would do." However, something in his body language told Eve that her response still wasn't enough to completely reassure him.

"I think the library chose you, just like it chose me and them. You were probably chosen before any of the current librarians were even born. " As soon as she'd finished speaking Eve crossed the space between them and took one of his hands, and began stroking the area between his thumb and forefinger.

Wordlessly Moriarty watched her actions for a moment before speaking. "And why did you choose me Duchess?"

For a second Eve was about to respond with a prepared guardian spiel about the good that his presence would do the library and how his knowledge would likely help even Jenkins, but she realized that wasn't what he wanted from her. The question wasn't about his usefulness to the library, but a much harder and more personal one. In fact, it was one that she currently wasn't sure if words could properly answer. Instead, she found herself relying on her body to do the talking. Instead of speaking she let go of his hand and allowed her arm to snake around the back of his neck, pulling him in closer for a long kiss.

As they kissed she felt the tension release from his body until finally they had to break because of a mutual need for air. Once they had broken apart, the pair remained tangled together with their foreheads touching.

Softly, almost as if in wonderment, Moriarty reached forward and stroked Eve's now swollen lower lip and for a moment she almost forgot about everything that was going on around them.

However, the moment was broken by Ezekiel sneaking up on them. Cheekily the thief tapped Eve on the shoulder. "I see you've found Moriarty again. I think you're taking the whole hospitality thing a tad bit too far. Also, Flynn is looking for you."

xxx

If there was one emotion Moriarty wasn't used to feeling, it was utter despair and hopelessness. Flynn Carsen and Ezekiel Jones's jabs about him being Jack the Ripper certainly had bothered him as there was nothing pleasant about being associated with a killer so evil and sadistic that knowledge of his crimes had crossed over from the real world into the fictional one. However, this alone wasn't enough to make him feel desperate and terrified. From the moment they'd left the restaurant his mind had been filled with the persistent notion that before this mission was through he was going to be consumed by flames. It had to be one of Prospero's tricks to keep him from freeing himself and saving Eve and the librarians, but it was still enough to make him feel as if he needed to be alone.

It was impossible to hide anything from Eve though, and he was gone for less than ten minutes before she managed to find him. Despite his best attempts to seem perfectly fine in a matter of minutes she had figured out the half truth of his condition.

Immediately she'd taken on the role of loving partner, and for a while her attempts at comfort chased the dreaded images out of his head. However, once they began to get closer to what was believed to be Prospero's house the images returned again, this time accompanied by a feeling of burning so intense that it felt as if his very soul was being torn apart.

* * *

I feel I should note that I came up with the burning part of this chapter long before the most recent episode so it is not an indication that Moriarty is somehow a vampire and truly is Prospero being a total dick. Also, my only excuse for not updating is that I'm a bit of a perfectionist and have been known to agonize over even single sentences structures for days at a time.


	6. Chapter 6

Eve was again distracted by the man walking next to her. This time it wasn't the way his muscles seemed to move under his clothing or the smell of well worn books that emanated off of him that had her caught up in his presence. Instead, the way he was moving and acting reminded her of watching an injured animal die before her eyes.

Suddenly, Moriarty stumbled over what seemed to be air and Eve grabbed his arm to steady him without thinking.

"Duchess, I assure you that I am in peak condition," the fictional tried to reassure her, but there was something about the way he winced the moment he arm wrapped around him that only reaffirmed her previous concerns.

"You and I clearly have very different definitions of peak physical condition." Although she'd intended to try to tease him, it was hard to find even the vaguest notion of humor in watching the man she was in love with waste away before her eyes. Instead, all she could add was "we need to get you back to the annex right now."

Moriarty shook his head almost sadly in response. "I refuse to have your team's chances of success ruined by such petty concerns."

It took all of Eve's energy not to want to scream at the fictional for his own stubbornness, but then another even more troubling symptom popped up and she found herself unable to keep silent. A black viscous liquid had began to leak from the fictional's eyes. It was almost reminiscent of one of the so called "crying" statues of the Virgin Mary, but there was nothing miraculous about what was going on.

"James, we are taking you back to the annex right now!"

There was enough force in her voice that Flynn stopped several feet ahead of them and began to turn around. "We are absolutely not going back to the annex not when we're this close to stopping Pros-" the librarian stopped mid-word. "That...that is not normal. There's ink leaking from your eyes! Why is there ink leaking from his eyes? You really do need to go back to the annex."

"Prospero is counting on my death being enough of a distraction that he will be able to escape while your librarians are trying to prevent it. I fear it is only fate that my time in your world is nearly complete. The only way that Prospero can be defeated is by ignoring my state and continuing with your mission." Almost as if he'd been planning to add a more dramatic effect to his own argument, seconds after the final word left his mouth Moriarty slumped forward causing Eve to nearly lose her own footing.

By now the other librarians had turned to look at the scene that had just played out.

"We can't just let him die." Cassandra stated looking almost sympathetic.

Even Flynn seemed to have decided to take a one hundred and eighty degree turn on his opinion of the fictional. "Eve, you have to take Moriarty back to the annex."

xxx

This wouldn't be the first time Eve had wished she could be in two places at once, but it was certainly one of the more critical ones. Right now her librarians were out in London chasing after Prospero, and she was back in the annex watching the man she'd considered spending her life with wilting away slowly. Moriarty hadn't regained consciousness since the point when he'd passed out and now Eve was sure he never would.

If the book Jenkins had found was any indication, the only way to save Moriarty was by building some kind of tether that would anchor his soul to the world of reality. However, the only lead Jenkins had on how to do so was an artifact that he believed was hiding on a back shelf of the library. However, even this wasn't guaranteed to work.

As soon as Jenkins had left the room to search for the artifact Eve found herself beginning to pace the length of the annex. The moment she reached the center of the room she made the mistake of looking at Moriarty. The library had mysteriously hidden all of Jenkins' cots so instead the fictional was lying on a makeshift bed made from a combination of all the blankets in the annex. In the middle of the colorful mass of blankets was the fictional looking so much like a corpse that Eve felt a lump form in her throat.

As a soldier she'd seen her share of deaths, some of them only half the age that Moriarty appeared in his human form but the feelings she'd felt for those men and women had been far different than what she felt for Moriarty. Trying to steel back the tears that threatened to fall she crossed the room to where he was lying, half expecting to find him cold and stiff or worse yet to disintegrate at her touch. Instead, when she touched his skin it was almost like putting her hand to a lit furnace.

Ignoring the unnatural heat emanating from his body Eve finally allowed herself to cry as she stroked the fictional's hair. "I know you think the only way for the librarians to stop Prospero is for you to die, but there's always another way. Please, if you know how to save yourself give me some kind of sign."

* * *

All I can say about the painful emotions I inflicted this chapter is there's a cameo next chapter that might make it worth it.


	7. Chapter 7

Normally Eve prided herself on being able to immediately know when someone was approaching her, but her mind was so caught up on Moriarty's condition that she didn't notice that they weren't alone until the other figure spoke.

"Do you want to know how to save him?"

Although she'd only heard the other voice a couple of other times and seen it's owner in human form an equal amount of time there was no room to mistake who it's owner was even before she looked up to locate it's owner. The fairy, Ariel, stood at Moriarty's feet. She was no longer wearing the outfit Eve had last seen her in, but her current choice of clothing didn't fit with the image of someone who had just stepped out of Shakespeare's London either. Instead, Eve could almost picture the young woman standing before her waiting in line at Starbucks for a coffee with far too many extra components, but the confusing choice of wardrobe was currently the last of Eve's worries.

"How did you get in the annex?!" Eve sputtered.

"I slipped through the library's vents." the fairy stated as if it was the most natural and obvious conclusion.

In hindsight, with everything Eve had already encountered and was currently still encountering, it didn't seem like such an odd conclusion if the logic of the whole situation was to be analyzed. However, there was no time to debate the how when the why was far more important. "What are you doing here?" Eve asked while wondering what she could use to fight off someone who could easily fit inside a pocket watch if it turned out the fairy had sinister intentions.

"Don't you want to know how to save him?" Ariel repeated a version of her earlier question.

Now Eve was fully suspicious. "Why would you tell me how to save him? You put him in a coma yourself back in Cicily!" she growled.

"An action I would not have engaged in if I had been aware that Mr. Carsen was not your true love's kiss."

Eve was still suspicious of why the fairy was truly in her presence, but something told her that Moriarty's suddenly plummeting body temperature was an extremely bad sign. "Okay, so how do I tether his soul to this plane?" Eve huffed glaring at the fairy through puffy red eyes.

"You already know how." the other woman stated plainly.

Angrily, Eve stood up hoping to use her height as a way to intimidate the petite woman whom she felt was simply playing games for some sick glee. "If I already knew how, he wouldn't be in this state!"

Instead of withering beneath Eve's glare the other woman continued her previous train. "It's a true love cure like in Cicily."

Eve shook her head. "It can't be that simple. We already kissed back in London and he still got worse." The guardian didn't like to kiss and tell, and it almost made her blush having to admit what she'd done to an almost stranger.

"The anchor has to be something more than true love's kiss."

"Whoa there! That is absolutely not going to happen!" Eve backed away from the other woman in horror at what she thought she was suggesting.

"Modern humans truly do have one track minds." Ariel regarded Eve with a look that was a mix of her own horror and annoyance at Eve's train of thought. "The cure is true love's words."

Eve had never been one for deep meaningful conversations. However, in that moment she wanted nothing more than the man under the blankets to sit up and say something annoyingly charming. Again, she swallowed a lump in her throat as she sat down next to the fictional and found his hand under the blankets before taking it in her own. "When you asked me why I chose you I didn't know what to say because I wanted to make what I needed to say sound as rational as possible, but I couldn't. I still don't think I can, but love isn't supposed to be rational. I don't think I'll ever fully understand what made me fall in love with you, but I do know that no matter what I have to go through in life from now on I want you there next to me."

xxx

Moriarty wasn't a religious man. It wasn't that he didn't entertain the idea of a higher power, but the line of work he'd been written into didn't normally mix well with good church going folk, and even if he were to have a change of faith he wasn't sure if the gods of any religion would accept someone who was in some ways too close to being a divine presence himself. However, if there was any concrete way to describe what he had felt while in his coma he would consider the notion of the Christian purgatory would be what fit most.

In his state he had been unable to move, hear or see, but eerily the one sensation he could still feel was touch. First there had been the sensation of being carried supported by two separate bodies, and then he had been laid on the floor. After what seemed to be a relatively short period of time something with a relatively small body had laid down next to him. If he had to take a guess on what it was, he'd assume the library had cats, although in the time before it had been discovered that the world had become Shakespeare's London he seemed to recall something Ezekiel had said about a rather large and friendly spider no longer being in it's cage. The assumed cat had remained curled at his side for only a short period of time, but it had been replaced by a much larger body. By the deliberate way the presence moved aside his covers and crawled in next to him, he believed it to be Eve. However, the guardian had moved much too soon and he was again left alone on the floor. Several times she'd returned and left, but she hadn't crawled under the covers next to him again and he'd missed that.

Towards the end of his state the darkness had began to close on him further and he'd lost even the sensation of being touched. In those moments he'd prepared himself for the inevitable nothingness of forever ceasing to exist and wondered if even Holmes and Watson would still remember that he had once existed. Then, all in one instant all of his senses began to work again.

He was immediately struck by Eve sitting on top of the blankets next to him. She was so caught up in her confession of love that she didn't seem to realize that he'd awoken and for a second he watched her until he could no longer stand watching her in so much pain.

Softly he cleared his throat in an attempt to get her attention.

For a second a look of complete relief crossed Eve's face and it almost seemed as if she wanted to grab him and never let go. Instead, she simply planted a kiss on his forehead before asking. "Can you walk?"

Slowly Moriarty sat up, tossing off a bright pink blanket that must have belonged to Cassandra and trying to test his limbs to see if they worked. It was only a small act of mercy that they seemed to be again in perfect working order. "I believe I have been returned to my former condition."

The tone of concern disappeared from Eve's voice, it was replaced with a far more natural sounding tone of biting wit. "Good, because you need a shower."

Although it had been less than an hour since he'd been on the verge of death, Moriarty couldn't resist the urge to respond with his own comment. "Perhaps it would be productive for us to share the shower."

For a second Eve glared at him before looking down at her own stained clothing. It seemed as if she was about to sling another annoyed remark in his direction, but instead she stood up and motioned for him to follow her. "We can clean up in the waterfall room."

* * *

Flynn is kind of growing magical plants in the actual library shower so the totally not stereotypical romance novel hookup situation of showering under a waterfall has to happen. I'll let the readers make assumptions about what does and doesn't happen in the waterfall room. Also, I'd planned one more chapter but I am somewhat indecisive on the content or if it reflects a significant time jump or merely takes place shortly after the rest of the team returns. For that reason I am allowing the readers to leave comments suggesting what should happen.


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